cmc/cleberg.net

  1#+date:        [2025-05-02 Fri 21:10:00]
  2#+title:       Asahi Linux: Linux on Apple Silicon
  3#+description: What it's actually like to run Asahi Linux on an Apple M2.
  4#+slug:        asahi-linux
  5#+filetags:    :linux:
  6
  7* Trying out Asahi Linux
  8
  9While debating if I should find a replacement laptop and get rid of my MacBook
 10Pro, I decided to try [[https://asahilinux.org/][Asahi Linux]].
 11
 12To put the bottom line up front, I love the experience and support for popular
 13features has come a long way since I originally checked out their website a few
 14years ago.
 15
 16From Asahi's website, as seen below, I noticed that almost all targeted features
 17are now supported. This is a great jump from the state it was at in 2022 - 2023
 18when I last checked.
 19
 20#+caption: Asahi Linux Device Support
 21#+attr_html: :alt Device support for Asahi Linux.
 22[[https://img.cleberg.net/blog/20250502-asahi-linux/device_support.webp]]
 23
 24** Installation
 25
 26Luckily, the installation process is as simple as getting started with a single
 27command:
 28
 29#+begin_src shell
 30curl https://alx.sh | sh
 31#+end_src
 32
 33This script will walk you through the standard installation steps to define the
 34size of the Linux partition, define your user and hostname, and give you
 35instructions on how to boot from the new operating system (OS).
 36
 37Once the script completes, it will ask you to completely shut down the device,
 38boot into the Startup Options menu, and follow a handful of prompts to enable
 39your new OS.
 40
 41** Initial Thoughts
 42
 43By default, the installer suggests using the KDE (as does the online community),
 44so I opted to try KDE. Historically, I have always been a Gnome user when
 45utilizing a fully graphical desktop environment (DE), but I'm up for trying
 46something new.
 47
 48KDE on Asahi works wonderfully and supports all of the generic features I'd
 49expect from a vanilla installation:
 50
 51- Snap to tile
 52- Shell and window themes
 53- Graphical updates
 54- Sensible default applications (Dolphin, Firefox, KMail, Konsole, KWrite)
 55- Support for battery percentages, keyboard backlight control, and miscellaneous
 56  sensor controls
 57- Fast and reliable bluetooth adoption
 58- Native game pad support
 59
 60Here's a quick look at the default desktop. In subsequent screenshots, you'll
 61see I started using the WhiteSur theme as it provides a more comfortable layout
 62for macOS users.
 63
 64#+caption: KDE
 65#+attr_html: :alt A screenshot of a terminal running fastfetch and emacs on Asahi Linux.
 66[[https://img.cleberg.net/blog/20250502-asahi-linux/kde.webp]]
 67
 68When diving into the system information panel, we can see that this machine is
 69running Fedora Linux Asahi Remix 42 on an Apple M2 Pro laptop with 16GB of RAM.
 70
 71#+caption: System Information
 72#+attr_html: :alt System information shows Fedora Linux Asahi Remix 42 with KDE 6.3.4.
 73[[https://img.cleberg.net/blog/20250502-asahi-linux/sysinfo.webp]]
 74
 75As I noted above, the first thing I did after installing Asahi and taking a few
 76screenshots was to install and change themes.
 77
 78I prefer the WhiteSur theme, as I used this theme previously on Linux before I
 79switched to macOS. However, I also like themes that incorporate the gruvbox
 80color palette, as well as the Nothing theme that uses a dark black and red color
 81palette.
 82
 83#+caption: Themes
 84#+attr_html: :alt Themes available by default on Asahi.
 85[[https://img.cleberg.net/blog/20250502-asahi-linux/themes.webp]]
 86
 87One of the things I use my laptop for the most is consuming media (music,
 88television shows, movies, etc.), so I had to make sure that my bluetooth devices
 89would connect properly.
 90
 91As you can see in the screenshot below, my AirPods Pro 2 connect seamlessly and
 92are available for use. By going through the normal button-holding process, I was
 93able to pair my AirPods in about 10 seconds.
 94
 95However, I have noticed that Asahi doesn't support some of the advanced AirPod
 96capabilities like pausing media when you remove an AirPod from your ear. The
 97lack of these advanced features doesn't bother me, but some people may be.
 98
 99#+caption: Bluetooth
100#+attr_html: :alt Bluetooth settings showing AirPods Pro support.
101[[https://img.cleberg.net/blog/20250502-asahi-linux/bluetooth.webp]]
102
103Next, I was able to connect my PS5 controller via USB-C and Asahi picked up the
104connect instantly in the settings menu. You can move the sticks and press all of
105the buttons to see if they're recognized within this settings menu.
106
107#+caption: Game Pad Settings
108#+attr_html: :alt Gamepad settings showing PS5 input and button configurations.
109[[https://img.cleberg.net/blog/20250502-asahi-linux/gamepad_settings.webp]]
110
111I had a bit of an issue launching Steam the first time, as I was getting an AVC
112Denial error from SELinux. To fix this, I had to manually allow the Steam
113application access to the requested resources:
114
115#+begin_src shell
116sudo ausearch -c 'passt' --raw | sudo audit2allow -M my-passt
117sudo semodule -X 300 -i my-passt.pp
118#+end_src
119
120While my MacBook only has 16GB of RAM, which seems to be the bare minimum
121required for the virtualization overhead, I was able to test one or two games
122before they crashed due to RAM errors.
123
124However, I did confirm that my PS5 controller worked natively with these games
125on Steam! I don't think I will be gaming much on this laptop anyway, but it
126seems you should have at least the 32GB models if you want to game on Asahi.
127
128** Software Support
129
130One thing to keep in mind is that Apple silicon chips (M*) are based on the ARM
131architecture, which means you will need to install software that supports ARM
132(i.e., ARM64/aarch64).
133
134While I have run into a handful of applications that do not have an ARM package
135available, it is not as difficult as it used to be to find suitable apps for all
136purposes on ARM.
137
138*** Signal Desktop
139
140One specific application that has been causing issues is [[https://signal.org/][Signal]]. The download
141page on their website will prompt you to install their Debian-based package,
142which does not work on RPM-based systems (or any other distribution except
143Debian & downstreams, such as Ubuntu).
144
145There are a few different websites offering potential solutions, but I settled
146on the [[https://github.com/kenballus/asahi-signal-desktop/][asahi-signal-desktop]] repository for now.
147
148#+begin_quote
149One thing to note is that this script does not work with all versions of Signal.
150I tested out 7.53.0 and found that the installer did not work at all.
151
152I had to use 7.44.0, as noted in the project's README, for the script to work.
153#+end_quote
154
155The installation process is simple. You can simply clone the repository and run
156the script:
157
158#+begin_src shell
159git clone https://github.com/kenballus/asahi-signal-desktop/
160cd asahi-linux-desktop
161./install_signal.sh 7.44.0
162#+end_src
163
164At this point, Signal should work. However, I have run into constant crashing
165issues, so it's not a great solution.
166
167[[https://github.com/AsamK/signal-cli][signal-cli]] may work, but I have not tested this yet on Asahi. Before I used
168macOS, I used [[https://github.com/isamert/scli][scli]], which provides a TUI for the signal-cli utility and it
169worked wonderfully.
170
171* Final Thoughts
172
173I am still in the early days of testing out Asahi Linux, so I will be sure to
174come back and update this post occasionally, but I am very happy with the user
175experience so far. Everything is smooth and I am still able to experience the
176great hardware of the Macbook with the software of Linux.
177
178In addition to the screenshots above, I have been testing out [[https://swaywm.org/][SwayWM]], which is
179slightly more difficult to configure after being away for Linux for a couple
180years. Regardless, it's working on Asahi as well and seems to be suitable for
181daily driving.
182
183Overall, I am glad there's continued support for Asahi and will be supporting
184them through their Open Collective going forward. Cheers to the Asahi team on
185such a great product.